Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

skin.

No. Concentrate! She could do this, could get away. She swiped the back of her arm over her drenched face—

Eyes reflected back at her in the headlights. His.

She stomped the brake and yanked the wheel right, sending the truck reeling. The wheel spun wildly... until the back end lurched off the road's edge and jerked to a stop, the chassis sunk into a mud bank.

Have to run! With shaking hands, she fought to unlatch her seat belt.

The entire road began to creep away.

As she screamed, the truck slid sideways down a sharp embankment until it hit a stump and reared into the air. It slammed back to the ground with the front heading down at an almost ninety-degree angle.

She locked the brakes, and hardwood limbs stabbed at the front bumper, but the truck wouldn't be stopped. Broad leaves slapped the windshield as the speed increased. She screamed again when the glass finally broke.

Oh, gods, no... The edge would be close. Just as she raised her arms in front of her face, her body was catapulted forward, then snatched in place by her seat belt. Gasping, she lowered her arms and cracked open her eyes.

MacRieve was at the front—he'd caught the truck. She could hear his claws digging down into the hood as he grappled to hold her at the precipice.

The headlights shined over his bloody face and clothes, his straining muscles. The power in his changed body stunned her.

'Get... out!' he bellowed in that beastly voice. 'Higher... now!'

Eyes wide, she fumbled with the seat belt. Wouldn't open. No... no... this shit only happens in movies!

The rain began again, a deluge. Beneath the truck, the ground moved, feeling loose, gummy, loose...

She froze, met his eyes.

In an instant, he leapt forward, stomping across the hood. With two swift movements, he'd cut her from the belt and tossed her over his shoulder. He lunged over the length of the truck to fight for higher ground, but the earth was collapsing under his feet.

40

Bowe did the only thing he could when they began to plummet from the drop-off—wrapped his body around hers, praying he could protect her with it.

Falling... fear for her rioting within him as he squeezed her tight. Landing... in deep water?

He blinked his eyes, wanting to roar at their fortune. No time. Rapids caught them.

As they surged forward, he shoved her above him, letting her get air, twisting to shield her from any collisions with rocks or debris.

Just as before, she'd run, but he would not let her die again. He began battling the current to get to the shore. Freed of the river, he tossed her to the bank, feeling her for injuries. He found none.

—She's safe.—

His female... unharmed. Over and over she'd been in jeopardy—his heart about to burst from his chest each time—yet somehow, in all that chaos, he'd kept her from injury.

She went to her hands and knees, but didn't get far before collapsing onto her front. He dropped behind her, fighting to catch his breath. He'd been shot more times than he'd thought, but hadn't felt them before. Now the wounds were taking their toll.

How long they lay like this, he didn't know. Yet when the rain eased and the moon rose high, his female's scent became undeniable.

Resisting the need... the driving urges... struggling to ignore the Instinct:

—Claim what's yours. She's strong.—

Strong, yes, but she was also disgusted by what he was—he'd seen the undisguised revulsion in her dazed expression even before she'd risked her life fleeing him.

Again.

He closed his eyes, hating to the gods what he was—

She leapt up and darted forward, shocking him with her speed.

He labored to rise. The bullets lodged in his body stabbed like daggers. 'No, doona run from me!'

Running from him... worst thing she could do... making him even wilder with her. He easily caught up to her, then tensed to spring. He lunged forward, his hand shooting out to clamp her ankle.

She screamed when he dragged her down to him.

In the mud, Mari crawled frantically, but he had a vise grip on her ankle.

'You canna run... ' he grated with difficulty from behind her.

The hell she couldn't. Mari kicked back with her boot, the heel connecting squarely with the side of his face. Yet in retaliation he only growled low, smacked her on the ass, and spit out the back tooth she'd knocked loose. There was none of the fury she expected.

She slowed her struggles, so afraid to look back...

When she chanced a glance, she found that the rain and the river had washed clean the blood from his mouth, his face, and his clenched hands and claws. His pale eyes met hers—the brutal rage she'd seen in him had ebbed.

His features didn't appear so gruesome to her. No longer did he seem like a monster—only a now unfamiliar male, one with an animal need to claim what he viewed as his to take.

'Doona run from me... '

She eased her body toward him, seeming to confound him. 'I won't.' At her words, his eyes lit somehow with both relief and anguish. 'I've just... I'd never seen anything like you—and I was frightened.'

'Should be... if you knew what I need, what I intend... tae do... ' His hand shot forward to claw off her shorts.

'No, damn it! Just give me—give me a minute to process all this!'

When he forced her beneath him and began biting off her shirt, she screamed, 'No!'

Light exploded. Power emitted from her hands and eyes, briefly blinding her. When she blinked her eyes open, they went wide. As if bound, MacRieve was pressed against a great ceiba tree, arms pinned back until his palms rested on the thick trunk behind him.

Holy hell.

He thrashed to free himself, his claws digging down into the striated bark. But whatever binding she'd used on him held firm. 'Don't struggle—you can't get free. You'll just hurt yourself.' When she realized he wasn't fighting only against her magick but against turning completely, she unsteadily rose and crossed to him. 'Why do you fight it still?'

His eyes were so full of yearning. 'Want you.'

When she could drag her gaze from his face, she saw his clothing was riddled with holes. 'Oh, gods, you've been shot! How many damned times—How could you hold the truck? And get us out of the river?'

As though with pride, his chin jutted up just a touch. 'Keep you safe.'

And her heart melted for this beast.

'You did, Bowen. You freed me and kept me safe.' The carnage had all been to protect her—brought on because those men had planned to hurt her again and again. Bowen had killed so savagely only for her. Now she wanted to protect him as well, to heal the countless injuries he'd borne for her. 'Can I use more magick on you?'

He eagerly nodded. 'Knock me... unconscious... bash my head against a rock... know you can.'